RootsChat.Com
Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: buzzby on Tuesday 07 July 15 10:10 BST (UK)
-
Hi
Can anyone help me as to how I can try to make contact with a half brother whom was adopted at birth in the United Kingdom ..(1964) I have the details of the date, birth etc and have written to adoption agencies in that area - all to no reply. I believe it could be due to possibly having his first name changed. Is there Anyone looking for adopted family finding it hard ?
Any help would be appreciated :)
Kindest Regards
buzzby
-
Have you tried something like this BAAF site for intermediary services?
www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/search/database/
NB I have not used them and am in no position to make any recommendations.
-
You can put your name on the 'Adoption Contact Register', and if the other person is on it you will be put in touch.
https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register
The details of the original birth certificate will have nothing to enable tracing of the adoption certificate which takes its place, or vice versa. Only the person adopted can make the link after going through all the procedures. edit: I see through reading the link that Avm gave, that the regs changed, and it may be possible for you try and trace the adopted person.
(It is advised when attempting to make contact with people that you use an intermediary to cope with any unforseen problems. It can be a shock to people. )
-
Hi buzzby
Unless you know the name he was adopted into, there is no way of linking an entry in the GRO birth index with an entry in the GRO adopted childrens index, and virtually no chance of finding him through the normal channels.
As suggested the best way forward is to register your name on the GRO adoption contact register already mentioned or here
http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/default.htm
or here
http://www.missing-you.net/categories/adoptions.php
in the hope that he too has registered to find his birth family.
There is also the chance that being adopted at birth in 1964, he may not know he was adopted. Unfortunately all the adoption systems are designed to protect the identity of adopted children and upto the 1970's the adoption of children was an extremely sensitive issue, less so nowadays when adoptive parents are encouraged to tell their adopted children all about their birth background.
Good luck.
Dawn
-
(It is advised when attempting to make contact with people that you use an intermediary to cope with any unforseen problems. It can be a shock to people. )
Advised by whom?
I am an adoptee in the US who began searching in the 1990's, and from what I have seen here over the years, the advice has moved towards making direct contact yourself with the person you are searching for unless an intermediary is your only viable option. It may be a shock or surprise with an intermediary or when done yourself. Contact should certainly be made discreetly and sensitively, no matter which route you take.
If the usual legal channels don't pan out for you, DNA testing is another option to keep in mind.
-
(It is advised when attempting to make contact with people that you use an intermediary to cope with any unforseen problems. It can be a shock to people. )
Advised by whom?
By the UK Government!
Quoting from their website, https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records:
You can access your birth records if you don’t have them because you were adopted.
You need to be 18 or over to do this.
Everyone adopted before 12 November 1975 will need to attend a counselling session with an approved adoption advisor first.
-
If I'm reading this - https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/intermediary-agencies - correctly, it says "you can" use an intermediary. To me, "you can" means it's an option and "it is advised" means that it's suggested as a wiser course of action. I don't read this as the government saying an intermediary is a better way.
-
"You can access . . ." means it is possible for you to do so.
Then it says "Everyone adopted before 12 November 1975 will need to attend a counselling session with an approved adoption advisor first."
I.E. You won't get anywhere with officialdom unless you follow their procedures.
There are more details on the website I mentioned.
-
Why the cut off date of 1975? Is that because after that adoptive parents were encouraged to tell children that they were adopted? However, to me, that doesn't make sense - surely if you are looking for birth parents, whatever your age, you know that you've been adopted?
-
If I'm reading this - https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/intermediary-agencies - correctly, it says "you can" use an intermediary. To me, "you can" means it's an option and "it is advised" means that it's suggested as a wiser course of action. I don't read this as the government saying an intermediary is a better way.
Hi Shelly,
I know this will sound odd, but yes there is certain information that will only be released to an official intermediary so they are an necessity here in the UK. So we're not talking about obtaining your adoption certificate or original birth cert (if you have managed to locate it) it's the guardian ad litem report or any court adoption information that has been written. The intermediary has to present your case to the court to get the report released and even then the court may only decide to release edited information to your intermediary.
I work on a family history helpdesk and currently we are being besieged by folk looking for either their own birth mother/father or other close family. I think this is because we have a TV show here called 'Long Lost Family' which is showing at the moment. Whilst we can do some sleuthing based on what an individual tell us with regard to their birth- really they need these court records for a fuller picture of their adoption. I had one young chap last week desperate to find his birth father, sadly his information was very incomplete and I could not move his search on any further.
CD
-
I have a good friend who was born in 1949 and had no idea till he was in his mid 30's that he was adopted. He was at the old family record centre killing time whilst a friend applied for his birth cert. So my pal looked in the indexes for his.........he wasn't there. He asked at the desk and was told he would have to have an interview with someone as it may be that he was adopted.
What a shock!!!
I have since found his birth family,although his mum had died a year before he went looking for her.
" Since 1975 adopted people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have had the right to see their original birth certificate when they reach the age of 18 (in Scotland the age is 16 and this right has existed since legal adoption was first introduced)."
-
The London Metropolitan Archives has produced a couple of leaflets which outline their position with regards to adoption files
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01fmi/
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01fmj/
I imagine it's a similar situation across England & Wales for the holders of adoption files